Random bat checks in IPL may not be so random

Did you know that in cricket, the width of the face of the bat should not exceed 4.25 inches and the thickness at the bulge (around the middle) should not cross 2.64 inches? These are the regulatory guidelines BCCI is ensuring with its latest bat checks on the ground.

 

Last week, match officials at the Indian Premier League (IPL) checked the bats of Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya, Rajasthan Royals’s Shimron Hetmyer, and Phil Salt of Royal Challenger Bangalore, with a bat gauge, that too, on the field of play (FOP).

 

Apart from the above dimensions, regulations also state that the edge of the bat cannot be over 4 cm (1.56 inches) and the height from the top of the handle to the base of the bat should not exceed 38 inches.

 

“The umpires keep a house-shaped bat gauge. If the bat passes through that gauge, it is deemed acceptable. We have all performed bat checks before the start of the innings inside the dressing room. The players hand over their willows and the check is done,” according to PTI that quoted a former umpire.

 

While the BCCI checked and cleared all the bats before this season’s IPL kicked off, the sudden ‘random’ checks are intriguing. The BCCI has also been eerily silent about any possible violations as well.

 

Even the slightest change in dimensions translates to a valley of differences in current short-format cricket, and it may lead to an unfair advantage.

 

BCCI seems to be staying vigilant about this, especially as IPL witnesses a sixes galore. Before Monday’s match, the tournament witnessed 525 sixes, with Nicholas Pooran alone smashing 31 of them.

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